Saturday, November 29, 2014

On
behalf of mail-artists everywhere, DK conducted an in-depth interview
with a former postal worker who achieved a high career rank in the
USA mail system. DK’s source, now retired, agreed to answer all the
gloves-off questions on the grounds that her identity is kept
anonymous. The result is an insider view of the postal system with a
close look at issues that impact the mail-art community.

DK:
Since you work for the post office, can I do a not-so-formal
interview with you? It would make you major famous in the mail art
community. I can send you questions....believe in Nixies!!!!

Post
Mistress X: Sure. But I've been retired from there for a few years.

DK:
Even better! Please do this at your own pace because I want to pick
your brain. Are you familiar with mail-art? I am a part of a network
of artists that create art sent through the mail. It is our passion
and postal workers are rock stars to us as they make it all possible.

Post
Mistress X: I've never heard of it.

DK:
Most of the time our mail is sent through even though much is strange
and what we call ‘naked’ - meaning no envelope - just weird shit
sent with stamps only. People have sent cans of soup, china tea cups,
etc., with only stamps placed on the object and it has gone though.

Post
Mistress X: LOL. Yes. I've seen that stuff.

DK:
Mail Art is an international phenomenon. We are having this
discussion because we are wondering why some mail will bounce back to
us even if it is correctly addressed, with correct postage, etc.
Sometimes it will come back several times.So this is the debate: I
have always known my postal workers personally, and they love
seeing the weird shit I get and send. I tend to think it breaks up
their monotony. Others believe mail-art is a huge pain in the ass for
postal workers. They'd rather send it back with a message, ‘Stop
mailing this shit. You make my life harder.’

Post
Mistress X: In these modern times, it is a pain in the ass. Most mail
processing is done by machine. Anything that isn’t
machine-processed just causes more work and usually takes longer to
process

DK:
What is the weirdest thing you have seen someone send through the
mail naked?

DK:
Why do they send shit back when it is properly mailed? Laziness?
Disgust? Mind numbed?

Post
Mistress X: If they are sending it back, it has to be for a reason,
which should be shown on the piece.

Post
Mistress X: Someone didn't send it to manual processing and returned
it via mechanical processing.

DK:
That’s where the Nixie conversation came up. The piece that said
Nixie was all correct yet came back twice. I did nothing different,
and it went through the third time. Yet the person who mailed it on
had it come back to him
twice although it was all correct. Third time was a charm that time
too. What do you suppose is the reason? If they send it back, why do
they sometimes cancel the stamps? Why are stamps sometimes not
cancelled?

Post
Mistress X: If it can’t be processed by machine, then the stamps
could get missed. The carrier is supposed to cancel them if they are
missed.

DK:
I told you I have a lot of questions. Do people really all wish to be
Nixies? Do workers really not know about or call them Nixies?

Post
Mistress X: Nixie clerks are just a job and most hate the work. It is
usually given to folks on medical restrictions and is one of the
worst jobs.

DK:
Do most post office workers hate their lives/jobs?

Post
Mistress X: They might hate some of the working conditions, but I did
love my job.

DK:
How, why and where do things go in the process of getting to the Dead
Letter Office and what happens to all that shit? A bunch of us once
sent mail art addressed to the moon. Where do you think that went?

DK:
I see now you said someone sent underwear with just stamps no box?

Post
Mistress X: Yep.

DK:
Where does undeliverable/unreturnable mail go? What is the process?
Do they then destroy it?

Post
Mistress X: At the Dead Letter Office they can open some things and
return them if there is information inside. They are the only ones
authorized to open mail.

Post
Mistress X: The Dead Letter Office handles all the regional nixies
that cannot be processed locally. Nixie is just a term for mail that
is undeliverable.

DK:
One article actually called the workers ‘nixies.’ Is that bs?

DK:
So Nixie is a noun not a person?

Post
Mistress X: It is the writer making a short version of the job title.
The title is Nixie Clerk. Nixies are actually the term for the mail,
and the person processing it is Nixie Clerk

DK:
Cool. Then what if they can't deliver? Is this where letters to Santa
go?

Post
Mistress X: There are special procedures for letters to Santa.
Usually a local organization will fill out the paperwork to get them
or there is a national location where we send them. If it can’t be
delivered or returned to sender and has no value, it is destroyed. If
it is of value, it is at some point auctioned

DK:
So they open it all as a last resort, and then where is it all
auctioned? What is a postal worker’s ideal position and/or the most
sought after? Is it common that a lot of valuable packages, etc. end
up there?

Post
Mistress X: Oh no, some will be opened and some just destroyed; it
all depends.

DK:
So our undeliverable mail-art most likely ends up destroyed, and what
does that mean? Shredded? Burned? Dumpster?

Post
Mistress X: Shredded and recycled.

DK:
What is the most desired job with the USPS?

Post
Mistress X: Like everything the perfect job depends on the person. I
loved being a postmaster.

Post
Mistress X: How cool. What is the most valuable thing that ended up
auctioned?

Post
Mistress X: Very little actually ends up at the Dead Letter Office.

Post
Mistress X: I have no idea about value since I was never allowed to
purchase through the auctions being an employee, so I'd never go or
look them up.

DK:
Is that because they try really hard to get it delivered in spite of
obstacles or most people send it properly?

Post
Mistress X: Both. We try really hard and most folks do send it
properly. The best is the Christmas cards to ‘Grandma and Grandpa,
City, State’ with no return address. We figure it out locally
because of the postmark.

DK:
I had a friend who worked at the post office sorting. He said it was
so mind numbingly repetitive (this was before robots did it, I think)
that they would trip on acid to cope. Are drugs a common/a problem?

Post
Mistress X: Actually, drugs are not a common problem. You lose your
job for that shit, and it is a safety issue.

DK:
Good to know. I think he did
lose his job. So you would say for the most part our mail-art is
probably considered more of a pain in the ass than anything else?

Post
Mistress X: Think about how clear your mind needs to be to know by
address which route a piece of mail goes to in a town with 100,000
addresses and 200 routes. Drugged ain't gonna cut it.

DK:
Can you remember other weird shit you have seen mailed without
envelopes or boxes? Some post offices have said they can't mail that
way, but rules have been investigated and it is allowable as long as
there is enough postage, although many just send it without a return
address and it almost always goes through.

Post
Mistress X: Coconuts. Lots and lots of coconuts.

DK:
Each individually stamped?

Post
Mistress X: Yep.

DK:
Were the coconuts to the same person or just something done often
over the years?

Post
Mistress X: Over the years people who take trips to Hawaii do it.

DK:
Is it Kosher to use international stamps to send overseas? It has
always worked for me, but I am never sure if that is okay.

Post
Mistress X: You mean postage you buy here or stamps from another
country?

DK:
Stamps from other countries used here to mail overseas.

Post
Mistress X: Not really. They shouldn’t be accepting it if it
doesn't have US international stamps or domestic stamps on it.

DK:
What are most workers’ reactions to the odd stuff? Were people
amused by the underwear and coconuts? You said processing would be
annoyed but others amused?

Post
Mistress X: Usually amused, as long as it doesn't take a machine
down. Carriers and clerks at the delivery office think they are a
hoot.

DK:
Does mail break the machines down often?

Post
Mistress X: Jams it up. We did have a time when folks were putting
heart candies in cards and the machines would crush them. Then the
powder would leak, and we would have to shut everything down and call
haz mat.

DK:
Are workers well paid/well treated?

Post
Mistress X: I think so. In most cases there will usually be the bad
egg or someone who thinks doing their job is abuse.

DK:
Do they generally feel they are being paid fairly for the work,
particularly the carriers because that has to be a hard-ass job?

Post
Mistress X: It isn't an easy job, but no job in the post office is
easy. Again it will depend on the person if they think they are being
paid fairly. They make a damn nice living in my opinion.

DK:
Why do you think they haven't come up with a drive thru option?

Post
Mistress X: There are a few out there, but for most locations it just
isn't an option. Plus security issues: We are still a federal agency.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

MAIL ART PROJECT--LETTER TO YOURSELF
Please write a letter to YOURSELF. It can be literal or any kind of interpretation, but intended for You and You alone. Send it to me and in one year's time, I will send it back to you--unopened, unchanged. They will be locked up in the DKult temperature controlled Vault. Make sure your address is clearly visible. I will send all submissions back to their owners in November of 2015. What would you like to tell the future you?
DKult HQ
Letters to Self
407 S Liberty St
Elgin, IL 60120

Sunday, February 9, 2014

I'm not going to call these fakes, as there would be no way to reach that level, but I spent the whole day using his amazing artwork as inspiration. I don't think I even begun to get a handle on his particular perspective, but will spend more time with it.

About Me

I am a mixed media artist utilizing photography, collage and assemblage. I particularly like making things from found objects or "garbage", "pre-owned trash"-- trashpo as it has been termed--short for trash poetry. My passion is mail art.